The Greenfield Papyrus measures about 37 meters, making it the largest known Book of the Dead scroll. Its original roll was also about 47 centimeters wide, an extraordinary scale for a funerary manuscript.
The papyrus was created in ancient Egypt during the Ptolemaic period, around the first century BCE, for a woman named Nesitanebetisheru, the daughter of a high-ranking priest. It contains spells, prayers, illustrations, and instructions intended to help the deceased navigate the afterlife and reach a blessed existence.
The manuscript is named after Edith Mary Greenfield, who presented it to the British Museum in May 1910. Although originally a continuous roll, it is now divided into 96 pieces for preservation and study. Its text is written mainly in hieratic script, with portions in hieroglyphs.
The Book of the Dead was not one fixed book but a collection of funerary spells assembled in different combinations. The Greenfield Papyrus is therefore best understood as one exceptionally long, richly illustrated example rather than a single standard edition.